Government Shutdown Coverage Pushes MSNBC To Big Win Over Fox News

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow may have poured a Joe Rickey at the news. Maddow, MSNBC's prime-time star, is also an aficionado of mixing her own cocktails, and the Joe Rickey--a bourbon with seltzer and lime--is a favorite for special occasions. Christmas would certainly fit the bill this year, with the political drama surrounding the White House--and the build-up to a government shutdown--pushed MSNBC to its highest-rated week in 17 years.

According to ratings data released Wednesday by Nielsen, MSNBC's prime-time programs averaged 2.578 million total viewers, easing ahead of Fox News Channel (2.240 million) and CNN (1.398 million). In the key demographic of viewers 25-54, the demo coveted by major national advertisers, MSNBC was #1, with 471,000 to CNN's 415,000 and FNC's 355,000--a rare third-place finish for Fox, which has held onto first place for years.

With four weekly wins in a row, MSNBC is on track to beat Fox News in prime (among total viewers and in the demo) for the month of December, with just days left to go.

MSNBC's Maddow had the top-rated program across all of cable news, averaging 3.213 million total viewers and 621,000 viewers 25-54, nearly twice that of Fox News, which finished third in the 9 p.m. time period, with 343,000 viewers 25-54.

MSNBC also finished first for the week between the hours of 6 a.m. and 2 a.m.--known as "sales day"--beating Fox News for the first time since 2000 among total viewers and beating FNC for the first time since 2001 among viewers 25-54.

Three MSNBC programs also beat Fox News and CNN among total viewers for the week: MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi at 3 p.m. (1,249,000 to FNC's 1,153,000 and CNN’s 931,000), Deadline: White House at 4 p.m. (1,738,000 viewers to FNC's 1,320,000 and CNN’s 1,121,000) and Hardball with Chris Matthews at 7 p.m. (1,926,000 to FNC's 1,744,000 vs. CNN’s 1,261,000).

The week was filled with political drama, with legislators working Friday to avoid a shutdown and failing, paving the way for a midnight deadline and start of a government shutdown, with cable networks working into the early morning hours Saturday to cover the fallout.

That said, Fox News was without its star host, Sean Hannity, who was off last week--and the network remains on track to finish 2018 as the top-rated cable news network yet again.

Back in August, Fox News hit a massive milestone, marking 200 consecutive months as the top-rated cable news network--despite MSNBC posting some of the NBC-owned network's highest ratings ever, including a week when MSNBC edged ahead of Fox to take first place for four nights in a row.

Coverage of the midterm elections set another record: Fox News delivered the highest cable news audience for a midterm election in cable news history, with a total prime-time audience of 7.784 million viewers. And in November, FNC dominated the competition with a convincing and wall-to-wall win.

But MSNBC's strong push amid major political news--a piece of cable news turf the network has worked hard for--suggests the network may continue to give Fox News a run for its money in 2019, when almost nobody believes the pace of news from Washington--and particularly the White House--will slow down, especially as 2019 brings the beginning of the 2020 election cycle.

Mark Joyella has worked in cable news at CNN and Fox, and as a news anchor and reporter at TV stations in New York City, Miami, Tampa and Orlando; follow Mark on Twitter @standupkid